


I've Got You

by Kerriathechosen1



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Angst, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, October Prompt Challenge, Prompt Fic, Swearing, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, Whumptober 2020, i've got you, prompt 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:02:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26893378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerriathechosen1/pseuds/Kerriathechosen1
Summary: The world is ever-changing. People are not what they used to be, and Janus finds himself having to tear apart two twins in order to prevent them both from dying a grisly death. He never asked to be responsible for another life, but he’ll be damned if he watches an innocent child die.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	I've Got You

**Author's Note:**

> {I had this written way in advanced but I forgot to post it yesterday. Whoops.}

Screams of the innocent sent the hair on his skin prickling, raising up like the alert ears of a wild animal. Janus looked up from where he was hiding in a dumpster, covered in old wasted food and sauce that had spilled out of untied garbage bags. The scent made those undead creatures waltz right past him. He was lucky he had the mental fortitude to keep perfectly still when those things were a foot away from his hiding spot. He had a cleaver, sure, but it wasn’t like he knew how to use it properly. One poorly-aimed swing and he was a goner. Janus wasn’t about to risk his life when he had another perfectly viable option.

That was why he tried to ignore those screams, but there was a difference between the screams of a child and those of an adult. Janus wasn’t a selfless person -- far from it. He’d watched classmates get eaten alive without lifting a finger. But this sound made him lift the dumpster lid before he could reason with himself. A walking corpse turned its head upon hearing him, and Janus felt his body halt in the process of sucking in air. He stood perfectly still, watching the creature as it stared right back at him. Then, its body turned and limped towards him, a raspy growl coming from the split in its gray, decaying face. Janus cursed himself; he should’ve known the dead didn’t just stand there silently. He’d have to do a better job of impersonating them if he was going to just step out of his only good hiding space.

The screams in the distance sounded off again, and the undead creature turned its head once more, seemingly more interested in the terrified screams than he was in Janus. That was his moment to escape, he thought to himself -- but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t make himself move further down the alleyway, not into the darkness, where  _ anything  _ could be lurking. The only other option was…

Janus grimaced and raised his cleaver, hopping out of the dumpster as silently as possible. For better or for worse, the screams in the distance covered up the sounds he made. Once his feet made contact with the cement, he cautiously inched closer and closer to the walking corpse from behind. Before it made it out of the alleyway and into the main street, Janus squeezed and unsqueezed his weapon for good luck, exhaled to calm his muscles, and swung the blade down into the creature’s head.

He wished he would never again have to hear the crack as his weapon collided with the creature’s skull. Its body seemed to spasm for a moment, and Janus didn’t waste any time taking advantage of that. He stuck out his foot and pushed the creature away from him, tearing out his weapon with all his might. The undead monster fell to the ground, and Janus jumped on its back, sinking his cleaver straight through the back of its head.

He could feel the moment the creature became lifeless for the second time. Janus felt certain it would never move again, but unwilling to take chances, he pulled out his weapon and crawled up a nearby ladder to get some height from the thing. Then he gazed out into the street, searching for the source of the screams. He felt his heart take a dive into his chest when he realized just what it was.

There were two boys, hardly even aged ten, in the middle of the street. One of the boys was beyond help, his arm caught by one of the creatures stuck underneath a car’s tire. It had its teeth gnawing into the boy’s arm, and probably had been chewing on it for a while, because the boy didn’t even look conscious from afar, his body limp and unmoving. The other boy was desperately trying to pull him away, while screaming nonsensically. Janus could see some of the dead were being allured to his voice from all over the street, but they were all coming from separate locations, far away from the center where the boys were. Maybe…

Maybe he could save the one.

Janus cursed himself for not instinctively running the other direction. He wasn’t going to die today for some stupid  _ child _ . But he also couldn’t turn a blind eye, not when he could use another person, child or not, to help him stay sane and  _ alive _ .

For once, Janus hoped that what they said was true -- “what goes around comes around.”

He climbed down the ladder and zoomed out from the alley, temporarily distracting and slowing down the dead, who switched direction toward the alley where he left, before realizing where he was going. Janus sprinted across the street, ignoring the pulsing in his chest and the anxiety-inducing groans and garbling all around him. He reminded himself that he still had about a minute before any of them were on top of him, and dropped down on the road beside the child.

His heart lurched in his chest. He was wrong -- this boy wasn’t even ten. He couldn’t be. He looked too  _ young _ . He kept pulling at the other boy’s arm desperately, a stream of tears turning his cheeks into waterfalls. Janus looked between the two and covered his mouth as guilt shot through him; he was about to separate  _ twins _ .

For a moment -- just a brief moment -- Janus considered trying to free the other twin, but he knew he just didn’t have time. He probably wouldn’t be strong enough to get them both to safety with another child on his back. He took a deep breath and decided to hate himself later, choosing instead to pull on the other boy, the one who he knew could survive.

“Let’s go,” he said shortly, tugging hard on the boy’s shoulder. One would think a child would be easy to move, but this boy’s grip on his twin was like steel.

“No!” he screamed, turning his head to dry his face with his shoulder sleeve. “Ro! Ro, get up! Get the f*** up, d*mmit!”

If this were any other scenario, Janus would wonder how this kid’s parents raised him, to be spouting out curse words in elementary school. Then again, he couldn’t blame him; he was watching his other half die, possibly to be turned into one of  _ them _ .

“Hey. Kid.” Janus put his hands on the boy’s shoulders, forcing him to meet his eyes. “We have to go now, or we’ll both die, too.”

“He’s not dead!” the boy shouted furiously, raising a fist to punch him. Janus grabbed his fist with one hand before it could hit him. His eyes narrowed.

“You have ten seconds before I drag you away from here myself.”

“You just f***ing try!” The child pushed him away and leaned down over his twin’s peacefully-still face. “Ro.” He cupped the boy’s cheeks in his hands. “Ro!” His voice cracked. “Ro, don’t -- don’t leave, don’t leave me --”

Janus glanced around and felt his chest freeze in panic. The dead were almost on top of them already -- he’d definitely miscalculated how long they had. Spinning around, he picked up the boy, the adrenaline shooting through his body giving him the strength to tear away the boy from his lost twin.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, tightening his hold around the boy’s wrist after setting him on his feet and dashing off down the street.

“Roman!” the boy shrieked desperately, his hand still reaching out toward the boy whose eyes would never open again. His feet dragged against the street, slowing them both down. Janus grit his teeth and pulled the boy into his arms, deciding that carrying him was the only way they were getting out of this alive.

The boy stared over his shoulder, his arms still reaching out, sobs wracking his small shuddering frame. Janus tried to rub circles on the child’s back as he ran, trying to emotionally distance himself enough to focus on the task at hand, but it was difficult with this boy’s tears dripping down the back of his neck.

“Please…” the boy whimpered, watching as the dead all found his brother and began dropping to their knees to feast on the remainder of his flesh.

“It’ll be alright. I’ve got you,” Janus promised, the soothing words only half a lie.

“Let me go with him,” the boy in his arms pleaded through a sob. He dug his head into Janus’s neck. “Let me die with him.”

“I can’t,” Janus replied, his throat constricting. This was too much. “He’s already gone.”

“He’s not… he can’t be… We-- We’re never apart, we’re not supposed to be. You -- you have to bring me back to him.”

“No.” Janus finally reached an alley without any of those creatures near, and tossed Remus into a dumpster before pulling himself in with him. He closed the top and listened for any nearby sounds, but he couldn’t hear anything over Remus’s shaking and crying. Sighing, he wrapped his arms around the little boy and began shushing him. It was all he knew to do. The boy squeezed back desperately, muffling his cries into Janus’s shirt as the dead lurked on every street around them, ending the lives of everyone they knew and loved.

~~~

Roman gazed down into the mist, somehow able to see his brother from above, through the clouds in the sky, through the buildings that blocked him from an angle, through the closed lid of the dumpster. He saw the teenager holding him tight, his face looking conflicted and near to tears himself, and his twin, clinging to the teenager like he was all he had left in the world.

“Remus…” Roman felt emotion take over him, but there were no tears in this realm. He only felt a swirl of sadness encasing his soul -- not his heart, not his mind, not his body -- just his  _ soul _ .

Another being, an angel belonging to that realm, silently sent a wave of comfort through him, balancing out the concern. Roman looked at the angel with whatever a soul could, seeing its warm smile and an outreached hand. Roman glanced back at his suffering twin, wishing he could go back to protect him, wishing he didn’t have to leave him alone, but…

“Is he ready?” Another angel asked, one with a more serious voice. Its arms were crossed, its wings flapping impatiently. The soft-hearted angel frowned at the other, but nodded.

“Am I?” Roman asked, uncertain. The first angel allowed its warmth to circle him once again.

“Yes,” it replied comfortingly. “You’re home.”

_ Home _ . Roman felt a burst of relief flood through him at the thought. The two angels seemed to smile at him as he moved forward into their realm of light. Any pain, physical or emotional, seemed to melt away as he moved further and further from the realm of man, into the place he truly belonged.


End file.
